False Memory Syndrome Foundation Vol 18 No 01 2009 winter

2009·0.17 MB·English

F A L S E M E M O R Y S Y N D R O M E F O U N D A T I O N N E W S L E T T E R
WINTER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 1
Dear Friends, the fact that she recovered them at home alone. She doesn’t
consider that her therapist’s instructions to let her mind go
Although this newsletter issue contains articles about an
where it will was license to imagine. We now know that the
old book, The Courage to Heal, a new book, Hell Minus
mere fact of imagining something, can, for a susceptible
One (whose author claims hers is a corroborated case of
portion of the population, result in false memories. Ann
satanic ritual abuse), a memoir that has been exposed as
Davis’s strongest support for the reality of her memories,
false, Angel at the Fence, and a new television program
however, is a signed confession from her parents that she
about multiple personality disorder, The United States of
includes in the book. Should the confession be accepted at
Tara, rest assured that the climate surrounding the recov-
face value? It is a thought-provoking question and the Davis
ered memory controversy is nothing like it was 18 years ago
story puts the notion of corroboration on the front burner.
when the Foundation was formed. In addition to the great
In December, Berkley Books withdrew the Holocaust
books about FMS that have been published over the years,
memoir Angel at the Fence by Herman Rosenblat because
we now have Try to Remember by FMSF scientific advisor
critical portions of the appealing story were not true. (See p.
Paul McHugh, M.D. We have ongoing new scientific
4) Just because someone says something happened and, per-
research explaining memory and false memories. The prob-
haps, even truly believes it, does not make the event histor-
lems that prompted the formation of the FMS Foundation
ically accurate. There has been a parade of memoirs that
have not completely gone away,but, in our estimation, there
have have been withdrawn in recent years. Do publishers
now exists a healthy level of skepticism about claims of
have a responsibility to corroborate the claims of the books
recovered “repressed” memory that did not exist two
they publish?
decades ago.
We previewed the pilot of The United States of Tara, a
For most FMSF families, just the name of the 1988
new television series featuring a woman with multiple per-
book The Courage to Heal by Ellen Bass and Laura Davis
sonality, that will air on the Showtime channel on Sunday
conjures up intense negative feelings. No other book was so
January 18 at 10 PM. A preview of this black comedy is
flaunted before parents by their accusing children in support
available at http://www.sho.com/site/tara/home.do. We are
of their newfound abuse beliefs and their cruel behavior. A
hesitant to say much at this point because we don’t know
20th Anniversary Edition of the Courage to Heal has now
where the 12 episodes (1/2 hour each) will lead, but we sus-
appeared. (See p. 3) Not surprisingly, the authors still cling
pect that this program is almost certainly going to inspire
to recovering repressed memories. The good news is that
discussion about the diagnosis of multiple personality (dis-
most, if not all, of the sections that encouraged the nurture
sociative identity disorder). The story involves a woman’s
of hate and anger are gone. The authors have greatly toned
struggle to find a balance between her dissociative identity
down the book, which we see as a big step in the right direc-
disorder and raising a dysfunctional family.We suspect that
tion.
Hell Minus One by Anne Johnson Davis presents the
In this issue...
argument that hers is a corroborated story of satanic ritual
abuse. (See p. 5) Davis recovered her memories in Salt Lake Courage to Heal................................................................3
City in 1992 at the height of the recovered memory and Roma Hart ......................................................................12
satanic abuse craze there. She specifically notes that one From Our Readers ..........................................................13
reason she is sure her memories are not the result of FMS is Bulletin Board..................................................................15
The next newsletter will be sent in April 2009.
1955 Locust Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103-5766, 215-940-1040, Fax [phone], www.FMSFonline.org
newsletter readers will find that the pilot presents the prob- McHugh’s accomplishments. The book is full of important
lems with the MPD/DID diagnosis rather strikingly. The insights into the mental health field presented in a way
pilot, at least, seemed to focus on the effects of the woman’s accessible to all. (See review comments in the box below.)
bizarre behavior on her children and husband. From the As always, we thank you, kind readers, for your ongo-
FMSF perspective, we suspect that the pilot of The United ing generous support. We ask that if you have any special
States of Tara,the "brainchild" of Steven Spielberg, will not memories about the FMS Foundation, please send them to
be likely to recruit new MPD/DID patients. us so that we can include them in a full history of the FMSF.
Wouldn’t it be fun if the new multiple personality pro- Pamela
gram actually followed the real path of many of the retrac-
tors who have contacted the Foundation over the years. If it
did, an episode could be devoted to the efforts of a former Try to Remember: Psychiatry’s Clash
patient to have the therapists or hospitals associated with a
Over Meaning, Memory, and Mind
wrongful diagnosis make an apology for their mistakes. A
Paul McHugh, M.D., Washington, DC: Dana Press
recent change in the law in some Canadian provinces allows
(Excerpts from Wall Street Journal Book Review)
an apology from a doctor, eliminating any legal conse-
quences. Some FMSF readers may want to write letters of “One of the most extraordinary outbreaks of popular
support for Roma Hart in her efforts to get an apology for delusion in recent years was that which attached to the
the therapy that stole so many years of her life. (See p. 12) possibility of ‘recovered memory’ of sexual and satanic
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Paul McHugh, childhood abuse, and to an illness it supposedly caused,
author of the new book Try to Remember, has been award- Multiple Personality Disorder. No medieval peasant pray-
ed the prestigious Rhoda and Bernard Sarnat Prize in ing to a household god for the recovery of his pig could
Mental Health by the Institute of Medicine of which he is a have been more credulous than scores of psychiatrists,
member. From the Institute’s website: hosts of therapists and thousands of willing victims. The
whole episode would have been funny had it not been so
“The Sarnat Prize was presented to McHugh in recognition
tragic.”
of his seminal contributions to the field of psychiatry and his
“Dr. McHugh describes how he was gradually drawn
wide-ranging efforts to identify and treat various mental dis-
orders.The Perspectives of Psychiatry,atreatise on practice into the ‘memory wars’starting in 1990, when an acquain-
methods and principles, has been lauded as one of the most tance, perplexed and unsettled, asked him for help after a
influential psychiatry texts in the last century. By emphasiz- niece from Washington state showed up unannounced at
ing the field's unifying concepts while identifying the differ- the man’s door in Baltimore and accused him of having
ent ways psychiatrists can approach mental illness, the text sexually abused her as a child. Soon enough, Dr.McHugh
has given practitioners insights into how they can better
found himself fielding other requests from bewildered par-
understand one another and communicate more effectively. In
ents—and discovered time after time that depressed or
several other books, McHugh has explored some of the most
anxious young women were being persuaded by thera-
strenuously debated topics in both society and psychiatry,
pists, often with the use of hypnosis, that their unhappi-
including assisted suicide, recovered memories, alcoholism,
ness was caused by repressed memories of childhood
and sexual disorders. He also is credited with building the
psychiatry department at the Johns Hopkins University into abuse. ‘You must remember in order to heal’was the ther-
an internationally recognized program in both research and apists’mantra. Even the young women’sdenials of having
clinical care during his tenure as director.” been abused, Dr. McHugh reports, were taken as further
evidence of repressed memory.”
“He has received many professional honors, including the
Paul Hoch Award of the American Psychopathological “...Dr. McHugh has rendered a valuable service by
Association, Joseph Zubin Award of the American describing the lamentable failure of self-criticism of doc-
Psychopathological Association, and the William C. tors and therapists, some of them motivated by ideological
Menninger Award from the American College of Physicians. zeal and others by hope of gain—and some, of course, by
He has been a visiting scholar of the Phi Beta Kappa Society both. He has also given us a timely warning that we may
and was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 1992.
expect further such episodes of popular delusion and the
Currently serving on the False Memory Syndrome
madness of crowds unless we straighten out our thoughts
Foundation and the President's Council on Bioethics, he also
about the way our minds work—or, if that is not possible,
is an adviser to the Association for Research in Nervous and
at least about how they don’t work.”
Mental Disease. He served for five years on the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops' National Review Board for Theodore Dalrymple. (2008, November 19). Destructive delu-
the protection of children and youth.” sions. Wall Street Journal.Retrieved on November 20, 2008
We would have added Try to Rememberto the list of Dr. from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122714489697843157html.
2 FMS Foundation Newsletter WINTER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 1
th we’ve heard about, not one has sus- retained. (The FMS Foundation does
20 Anniversary Edition of The
pected she might have been abused, not even appear in the index.)
Courage to Heal
explored it, and determined that she As before, though, HarperCollins
This year marks the twentieth wasn’t.”
has failed in its publisher’s duty by
anniversary of the publication of the There was a viciousness in the The leaving any number of instances of
book The Courage to Heal by Ellen Courage to Heal approach to “heal- sloppy scholarship. (On the very first
Bass and Laura Davis.[1] ing.” A parody of their style appeared page Judith Herman has been denied
No book did more to spread false in Vol 2 No. 8, August 30, 1993 FMSF her Harvard appointment and Bessel
memory syndrome. Within a few years Newsletter. Instead of advising chil- van der Kolk has been awarded one.)
The Courage to Heal (TCTH) became dren on how to treat their parents, it Bass and Davis are still, of course,
the book “most recommended by ther- advised ex-patients on how to treat totally committed to “recovering”
apists.”[2] their therapists. It was constructed by memories and the reader is never
TCTH told its readers: taking selections from the three chap- warned that many scientists doubt
“If you are unable to remember any ters starting with “ANGER—THE much of what they have to say. On
specific instances....but still have a BACKBONE OF HEALING” and page 74 they write that “The fact that
feeling that something abusive hap- applying the following four replace- people can experience amnesia for
pened to you, it probably did....If you ment rules: traumatic events is beyond dispute”
think you were abused and your life
child —> patient and they footnote a number of authors
shows the symptoms, then you
survivor —> ex-patient (including their one mention of David
were....Many women don’t have
abuse, victimization —> therapy Calof in this edition). Of course no one
memories, and some never get memo-
abuser, father, grandfather —> therapist disputes amnesia caused by physical
ries. This doesn’t mean they weren’t
All other words were left trauma. What is much doubted is the
abused....[You may] want “proof” of
your abuse. This is a very natural untouched. The words anger, rage, ability ever to recover such memories.
desire, but it is not always one that can fury, hate, kill were just as they From the index we learn that
be met.” appeared in TCTH. Judith Herman who used to be listed
Convincing readers that they had We learned from many therapists on six pages is now listed for only two
repressed memories of sexual abuse that until that parody they had not truly and such recovered-memory luminar-
was not enough. TCTHtold its readers’ understood the nature of the book they ies as Richard Kluft, Karen Olio and
therapists: were recommending. Roland Summit have disappeared
In 1994 the third edition of The entirely.Alas, the climactic case histo-
“Be willing to believe the unbeliev-
Courage to Heal appeared with a new ry (page 511) is complete with lurid
able....it’simperative that you be will-
70-page section devoted to complaints details of intergenerational ritual abuse
ing to hear and believe the worst....No
about the False Memory Syndrome with no hint, of course, that the FBI
one fantasizes abuse....If sexual abuse
Foundation. It was replete with factual concluded years ago that there was no
isn’t the presenting problem but your
client has eating disorders, and addic- errors about the Foundation and factu- evidence of any such cults. [6]
tion to drugs or alcohol, suicidal feel- al errors about the nature of memory.[3] Perhaps, though, we can count it as
ings, or sexual problems, these may be TCTH’Sfavorite expert was Mr. David an improvement: gone is the much
symptoms of sexual abuse....if your Calof, a man who had no known cre- more lurid story from the third edition,
client says she wasn’t abused but you dentials and according to PsycInfo (the the one where the unnamed torturers
suspect that she was, ask again
index of articles on psychology and were identified as members of the
later....‘No, I wasn’t’may mean ‘No, I
related fields from 1300 scholarly and FMS Foundation. Gone, too, is the
don’t remember yet.’...Believe the
professional journals), has never pub- advice to “get strong by suing” with its
survivor. You must believe that your
lished a peer-reviewed research accompanying list of lawyers to con-
client was sexually abused, even if she
doubts it herself....Your client needs paper.[4] tact. And gone are these phrases (all
you to stay steady in the belief that she Bass and Davis have now pub- previously cited as good things to do):
was abused. Joining a client in doubt lished a Twentieth Anniversary Edition visualize revenge, see them suffer, beat
would be like joining a suicidal client of The Courage to Heal.[5] We’re him to a pulp, demolished him, dream
in her belief that suicide is the best happy to say that they’ve cleaned up of murder or castration, be glad he is
way out. If a client is unsure that she much of their act. We haven’t read it dead, spit on his grave.
was abused but thinks she might have
with a fine-tooth comb, but as far as 1. Bass, E. & Davis, L. (1988). The Courage
been, work as though she was. So far, we can tell none of the outrageous fea- to Heal: AGuide for Women Survivors of
among the hundreds of women we’ve Child Sexual Abuse.New York: Harper &
tures mentioned above have been
talked to and the hundreds more Row.
FMS Foundation Newsletter WINTER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 1 3
2. As reported in The Authoritative Guide to Children were coerced to lie about Holocaust MemoirWithdrawn by
Self-Help Books: Based on the Highly their parents. [2] Fortunately, most of Publisher(Yes, Another)
Acclaimed National Survey of more than 500
the families are now reunited.
Mental Health Professionals,by John W. Berkley Books has withdrawn the
Unfortunately, that is not the case for
Santrock, Ann M. Minnett, Barbara D. Holocaust memoir Angel at the Fence
Campbell. Guilford Press, 1994. John Stoll who was in prison for 20 by Herman Rosenblat because the
3. One of their false assertions was based, they years. Nachman and Hardy hope that
story is not true. [1]
said on something called the “FMS Foundation Stoll’s son Jeb will see this movie and
Scheduled for February publica-
Newsletter” of February 29, 1992. The first
realize that he was not the victim of
newsletter with that title was not until after the tion, the story describes the romance
child molestation, but is a victim of a
Foundation was incorporated on March 12, between Rosenblat and Roma
1992. small town’s corrupt justice system. Radzicki, now his wife. In his memoir,
4. Mr. Calof insisted that we print a correction Maybe then he will reach out and make
Rosenblat writes that he met Roma
and in Vol 4 No. 2, February 1, 1995 we duly contact with his father for the first time
when he was in a Nazi concentration
reported that he was an RMHC (Registered
in more than 20 years.
Mental Health Counselor) in the State of camp and a farm girl (Roma) tossed
Nachman and Hardy used both
Washington and a Visiting Faculty Member of him apples over the fence that kept him
the San Francisco Family Institute. We took new interviews and archival footage to
alive. Twelve years later in the United
the occasion also to print that FMSF-member construct a film that illustrates the
States, he said that he met Roma again
Chuck Noah, a retired construction worker in
point: when power is allowed to exist
Seattle, had also received an RMHC creden- on a blind date. They married.
without oversight from the press, the
tial. Like the other 13,000 people who had Rosenblat was, in fact, in the
then received RMHC credentials by the State community or law enforcement, the Schlieben concentration camp, and
of Washington it cost him $78.50 and he was rights of everyday citizens can be lost
Roma and her family had indeed hid-
required to take a 4-hour AIDS course. Some for decades. Viewers hear child wit-
den as Christians, but they were sever-
time later the San Francisco Family Institute
nesses tell about how they were forced
(which no longer exists on the web) refused to al hundred miles away.The romance of
to lie on the witness stand and of their
comment when asked if Mr. Calof had ever the apple tossing never happened.
held a position. scary sessions with sheriff’s deputies
Rosenblat first wrote the story for
5. Bass, E. & Davis, L. (2008). The Courage in which they were told about the sex-
a newspaper contest for best love sto-
to Heal: AGuide for Women Survivors of
ual experiences that happened to them.
Child Sexual Abuse 20th Anniversary Edition. ries. He won and the appealing story
Hardy has commented: “I had always
New York: HarperCollins. took on a life of its own. He and his
6. Lanning, K.W. (1992). Investigator's Guide thought that only guilty people go to wife appeared on the Oprah show
to Allegations of 'Ritual' Child Abuse. prison. I don’t think that anymore.” [3]
twice, and the story was reprinted in
Behavior Science Unit FBI Acad. Nachman and Hardy said that
various publications. Oprah called
c Witch Hunt has been a passion project
their romance “the single greatest love
Witch Hunt: Documentary about for everyone who worked on it. The
story” she had heard in the show’s 22
John Stoll and the Bakersfield, entire crew worked basically for noth-
years.
California Prosecutions ing because they were all moved and
Cracks in the story came when
compelled by this story of justice gone
In September 2008, the documen- scholars noted that the construction of
awry. This even included narrator and
tary Witch Hunt premiered at the the concentration camp would have
executive producer, Sean Penn.
Toronto Film Festival to standing ova- made it impossible for Rosenblat to
Witch Huntwill be screened in San
tions. Sean Penn is the executive pro- have met anyone at a fence. Michigan
Jose, California as part of the
ducer and narrator. Dana Nachman and State’s Kenneth Waltzer, interviewed
Cinequest Film Festival in February.In
Don Hardy are the filmmakers. [1] other survivors who were with
November, 2008 the file was acquired
Witch Hunt tells the story of eight Rosenblat, and they said the story of
by MSNBC and is scheduled to pre-
parents in Bakersfield, California in the apples could not possibly be true.
miere in April 2009. A DVD/digital
1984 who were falsely accused and Rosenblat confessed that he had fabri-
download will be released soon after.
convicted of child abuse. The lives of cated the tale.
these families were forever damaged. 1. See FMSF Newsletter FMS Foundation Amovie based on the story is still
Newsletter,13 (4).2004.
scheduled to proceed—but with the
“It may be time to permanently 2. Horn, J. (2008, November 1). The dangers
condition that Mr. Rosenblat will
repress repressed memory.” of child abuse hysteria. Los Angeles Times,E9.
donate earnings to Holocaust charities.
Tillers, P. (2008, December 15). New article on 3. Magdael, D. (2008, November 1). MSNBC
How could this happen, especially
repressed memory: Review of Piper,Lillevik & Films and Submarine Entertainment finalize
Kritzer “What’s wrong with believing in repres- distribution deal for compelling documentary after the parade of withdrawn fabricat-
sion?” Retrieved on December 15, 2008 from “Witch Hunt”. Press Release. ed books over the past decade?
http://tillerstillers. blogspot.com/2008/12/new-arti-
cle-on-repressed-memory-review.htmlo c Obviously, many publishers do not fact
4
FMS Foundation Newsletter WINTER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 1
check. A comment from Rosenblat’s Legislature appropriated $250,000 for the “Real Self in charge.” [4]
agent gives insight into why people the Attorney General’s office to inves- Davis entered therapy because she
may come to believe in things for tigate the claims. For two and a half had been having outbursts at home. On
which there is no evidence: years, investigators interviewed hun- page 125 she writes:
dreds of alleged ritual-abuse survivors,
“I believed the teller. He was in so “Like me, Dr. Ellsworth didn’t
but they never obtained enough evi-
many magazines and books and on know why I needed treatment, but he
dence to prosecute anyone. The 1995
‘Oprah.’It did not seem like it would did tell me the outbursts of rage and
not be true.” report, however, includes the caution: my extreme anxiety may be coming
“the lack of prosecution of such from a past experience of unresolved
When an authority says something (in
reports does not mean that the reports terror. In response, my natural ‘fight
this case Oprah) and when something
are fictitious.”[2] Indeed, even in 1991, or flight’instinct was overtaking me.
is repeated many times, people tend to
a University of Utah Medical Center Together, we would work hard to
believe it.
hopefully uncover the truth behind my
psychologist said that there were at
1. Rich, M. & Berger, J. (2008, December 29).
unhealthy and damaging behavior. Dr.
False memoir of Holocaust is canceled. New least 366 victims of satanic ritual
Ellsworth taught me how to give
York Times,A12. abuse who were being treated by ther-
myself permission to remember what-
apists at that time. [3]
ever needed to be remembered, and to
c In 1992, Anne Johnson Davis was
say whatever needs to be said. He
Fully Substantiated Suppressed one of those patients. In 1994, using taught me to lie down and make
Ritual Abuse Memories? the assumed name of Rachel Hopkins, myself physically comfortable, close
Ms. Davis reported her satanic abuse my eyes with no distractions or inter-
Davis, A.A.J. (2008). Hell Minus One:
MyStory of Deliverance From Satanic to detectives of the District Attorney’s ruptions, and to go wherever my inner
Ritual Abuse and My Journey to investigative team. She showed them signals lead me. In this quiet contem-
plation, I needed to assure myself that
Freedom.Tooele, Utah: Transcript letters of confession from her parents
as an adult woman, I would believe
Bulletin Publishing. and letters from her step siblings that
myself no matter what, and I would
supported her claims. The detectives
Belief in satanic ritual abuse was love and accept myself, no matter
actually visited her parents and they
alive and well in Utah in the early what came to the surface of my
confirmed the confessions. Ann
1990s. One of the first trips that this mind….
Johnson Davis’s case is cited by some
writer took in 1992, soon after the for-
“With this psychological permis-
as proof of the existence of satanic rit-
mation of the FMSF, was to Salt Lake
sion in hand, I went home and began
ual abuse cults.
City where we met families who had to practice what I had learned. As I sat
This fall, Davis published Hell
been accused by adult children claim- alone in my basement or bedroom, I
Minus One, a memoir of her ritual-
ing recovered memories of abuse in began to reclaim fractured pieces of
satanic ritual orgies. We became famil- abuse experiences. Ann Davis was not my childhood that I didn’t know exist-
iar with the names of therapists such as aware that she had been ritually tor- ed.”
tured until she went into therapy in the
psychologist Noemi Mattis, Ph.D., Davis emphasizes the fact that her
fall of 1992 with Sterling G. Ellsworth,
Chair of the Ritual Abuse Task Force, memories were not the result of influ-
Ph.D. an LDS therapist. Information
and social worker Barbara Snow, ence by Dr. Ellsworth, since she recov-
about Ellsworth and the books he has
author of articles about satanic ritual ered them at home, and thus they could
written are available on several
abuse, [1]who promoted belief in satan- not possibly be the result of false mem-
Internet sites. On his website he fea-
ic ritual abuse cults. In 1990 an author- ory syndrome. [!] She describes her
tures this quote:
ity of the Latter-day Saints (LDS memories and how they evolved:
Church) wrote a memorandum to a “No one came from a perfect fami-
“While at home, I discovered I did-
church committee that described the ly where all our real feelings were
n’t have the childhood family I
complaints of sixty members of the honored and revered. Each of us, in
thought I had….As Dr. Ellsworth and
church who said that they had been order to learn and grow, has had to Iprocessed these memories, it became
subjected to satanic ritual abuse (SRA) live partly or mostly in a false self.” clear that my parents were closet
by family members and other members Included in his many writings, Satanists, using their membership in
of the church. The complaint was Ellsworth has suggested that one of the the LDS Church as a cover.
leaked to the press and received much ways to get out of the “false self,” is “The memories were vividly
attention. through “Inner-child work” which detailed and specific…(126)
Belief in SRAin Utah was so per- “repairs childhood wounds” and gets
“The memories came forth one by
vasive that in 1991 the Utah State
5
FMS Foundation Newsletter WINTER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 1
one, predominantly over a period that stake president, armed with these let- confessed...It was mind-boggling.”
spanned more than two years.” (131) ters and Davis’s written accusations, (161)
confronted her parents. Davis informs readers that during
“I went to therapy three times a
the course of the Attorney General’s
week for months, two hours at a time.”
“When asked for an explanation,
investigation: “Hundreds of individu-
(136) my mother and stepfather insisted all
als came forth claiming to be victims
Typical of the descriptions of what of their children were, ‘Hallucinating
of ritual abuse, and were interviewed
happened in the rituals: and possessed.’The clergymen asked,
as part of a multi-year investigation.
‘All of them?’” (148)
“I was bathed in a tub of blood and On the third visit from the clergy Yet, none of the claims resulted in
forced to look at myself in a mirror. I men, the parents confessed to all of the prosecutable cases in the state of Utah,
was tied up and hung upside down and
accusations in the letters. They even purportedly due to lack of evidence.”
spun. I was suffocated and electrocut-
offered to confess to more than was in (161-2)
ed to the point of being bowed and
the letters. The bishop and stake presi- Ann Davis believes that the reason
paralyzed. Sometimes they forced me
dent told her parents that they must the information from her case was
and my siblings to hurt one another.
They would tell me, ‘now you’re one immediately write letters of confes- never used in the final report of the
of us. If you tell anybody, they won’t sion. Davis includes the letters in her investigation is because her parents
believe you and they’ll put you in a book and writes: were never Utah residents.
mental hospital.’And they threatened A question arises, however: Why
“[O]ver a period of three months, I
to torture me until I was dead.” did Ann Davis not attempt to prosecute
received five individually handwrit-
Spangler, J. (1995, April 25). Ritual her parents if she believed they had
ten, gruesome confession letters that
abuse does exist, victim says.Deseret
committed the terrible crimes she
validated my allegations, and detailed
News, Metro 1. Reprinted in Hell
even more atrocities than those of describes—in whatever state they
Minus One,243 - 246.
which I was aware.” (149) lived. If they represented the danger
Davis writes about her parents’
Ann’s parents were excommuni- about which she writes, why not try to
confessions and also the visit of the
cated “during the first week of protect others?
detectives to her parents. She said that
February, 1993—less than six months
“If we prosecuted my parents, we
when she accused her parents, they
after I began therapy.” (154) When an
suspected that the media would be all
denied it and said that she was delu-
attorney friend of Ann’s husband
over it, along with FMS advocates.”
sional. Her parents went to their LDS
demanded that the parents pay for her (172)
bishop “stating that their daughter was
therapy, they sold their home and paid At the same time, however, Ann
hallucinating and saying all kinds of
“tens of thousands of dollars.” (155) gave many interviews to the media
things about them.” (146) The bishop
Ann wrote that she felt that “also using the name Rachel Hopkins, obvi-
did not know what to do and sent the
served as a major confession to what ously not bothered by the media then.
parents to a “superior clergyman”
they had done to me.” (155) She writes that she was asked many
referred to as a “stake president.”
When Davis went to the detectives times “So why aren’t they in jail?”
(Neither the bishop nor the stake pres-
for the Attorney General’s investiga- Rachel blames the proponents of
ident were professional counselors.)
tion in 1994, she brought all her letters. FMS. She writes that she was aware of
The stake president called Davis and
She wrote that she was afraid the news accounts of groups and individu-
for the next three months she wrote to
Satanists, especially her stepfather, als picketing therapist offices. She
him with her memories. Davis writes:
might murder her for telling her story. wrote: “In fact, during the 1990s some
“Only one month into therapy, Dr. The investigators went to visit her par- therapists were reportedly sued or set-
Ellsworth had encouraged me to con- ents and were surprised that the parents tled out of court because of charges
front my abusers—my mother and my let them into their home and confessed against them related to FMS.” (172)
stepfather.” (145) to everything. One of the detectives She notes that unless there was corrob-
“In October 1992, less than two told Ann that her stepfather said he was orative evidence, the case would be
months after I started therapy with Dr. afraid that Ann’s husband would come dropped. She repeats that hers is a cor-
Ellsworth, I sat down at my computer and kill him. (161) roborated case but:
and began to write to the stake presi-
“Evidently, they thought they were “While waving the signed confes-
dent about what my parents did to
safe from being charged and convicted sion letters in front of everyone, I
me.” (146)
of felon crimes, due to statutes of lim- would probably still have to prove that
Ann contacted her step siblings
itations. That’s the only reason any of Ididn’t suffer from FMS, or even mul-
and asked them to also send letters to
us could imagine why they willingly tiple personality disorder.” (172)
the stake president. The bishop and
6
FMS Foundation Newsletter WINTER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 1
She wrote that she feared she and academic work done on this topic in The starting point of “false memo-
her family would lose their privacy. France. Unfortunately, many French ry syndrome” is in Freud’s Seduction
She admits that there were additional families are not fluent in English and Theory and later its abandonment for
problems such as statutes of limita- they have had difficulty getting infor- the Oedipus Complex Theory. Both
tions and “acquiring additional corrob- mation. The AFSI association is trying theories partly fed the feminist move-
orative evidence for court proceedings, to do its best to gather the involved ment in the United States. Thus, the
such as crime scene investigations.” families but it is missing resources and origins of Recovered Memory
scientific support to trigger research in Therapies take place in a combination
“If FMS hadn’t been an issue, and
the area. Professor Jacques Van Rillaer of these various factors. We don’t deny
had I believed that prosecution could
from Louvain University in Belgium is the truth of spontaneous testimonies of
have proceeded without hysteria, and
one of the only academics to know the sexual abuse, which really occurred,
stayed focused on having a fair trial, I
would have gone through through the subject and be able to communicate nor their effects, but we try here to
challenges to expose and stop my about it in French. understand how false memories can
mother and stepfather from possibly Professor Brigitte Axelrad [2] has emerge from RMT.
hurting anyone else.” (173) recently written two well-documented
The Seduction Theory
Davis states early in her book: articles in French on the false memory Freud started from Charcot’s idea,
syndrome phenomenon. “The origins
“Though skeptics and ‘experts’may which pointed out that hysteria origi-
of false memory syndrome” and “False
tell you otherwise, my story is not the nated in a trauma, and claimed that
memories and mental manipulation”
result of false-memory syndrome.” (6) seduction was the sole cause of this
were published by the French skeptic
Is Ann Davis’s story an example of disorder, as well as of obsessive-com-
organization “Observatoire Zététique.”
a confirmed case of satanic ritual pulsive neurosis and paranoia. By
[1] Ashorter version of the first article
abuse? We leave it to FMSF “seduction”, Freud meant an infantile
will soon be published in a French sci-
Newsletter readers to decide. sexual abuse which really occurred.
entific newspaper. This article is one of
1. Snow,B. & Sorenson, T.(1990). Ritualistic Any psychological problem was
the first attempts to speak out about the
child abuse in a neighborhood setting. Journal reduced to a single cause of possible
of Interpersonal Violence. 5(4):474-487. growing phenomenon of FMS in trauma: infantile sexual abuse.
2. King, M. R., & Jacobson, M. (1995). Ritual France in order to provide information
At the beginning, Freud’s therapy
Crime in the State of Utah: Investigation,
to a large public.
was, as he claimed later, not only to lis-
Analysis & ALook Forward, Salt Lake City:
Professor Axelrad translated her
Utah Attorney General’s Office, p. 483. ten to spontaneous memories of abuse,
3.Associated Press. (1995, February 28). article into English for the FMSF but to encourage his patients to build
“Satanism Probe Comes Up Empty.” Salt Lake Newsletter.Ihope that American read-
scenes of which they had no recollec-
Tribune,D3. ers are interested in learning what is
tion. According to Freud, his patients
4. Ellsworth, S.G. (2002). How I Got This Way being published in France.
could not find such memories as long
and What To Do About It.Orem, UT:
1. You can find these articles on its website:
Kenninghouse. (1980). Getting to Know the as they were not submitted to a “pow-
http://www.observatoirezetetique.org/page/dossier.ph
Real You.Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Book p?ecrit=2&ecritId=106&PHPSESSID=b09185b61c2 erful coercive treatment.”[1]
Co. 390ddf3d8af38cf1cae14and http://www.observtoire- He insisted on the fact that only
zetetique.org/page/dossier.php?ecrit=3&ecritId=108
the unconscious repressed memories
2. Professor Axelrad is now retired, but previously
were, when recovered, evidence of the
taught philosophy and psychosociology in Grenoble
News From France
High School and at Grenoble University. traumatic event. Thus, patients who
Claude Amblard
could not recover memories of child-
* * *
I would like to summarize the hood sexual abuse were regarded as
FMS situation in France for Newsletter Origins of False Memory Syndrome suffering from unconscious memory,
readers and share with you one of the Brigitte Axelrad and just gave the “proof” of the reality
first articles to be published in French of these sexual abuses and of their
In the 1980s, a phenomenon called
to speak out about the problem of pathogenic role. According to Freud,
the “false memory syndrome” devel-
FMS. The problem of FMS is growing only repressed memories could be
oped in the United States. Parents were
in France, as we seem to be ten years pathogenic and recalled repressed
accused of incest by their children
behind you. The only source of infor- memories, cathartic. Freud was
once they became adults, undergoing a
mation for French-speaking families in obsessed by the Seduction Theory for
therapy called a Recovered Memory
the past has come from the FMSF and at least two years. He mentioned it for
Therapy (RMT). Ten years later, this
the work done by English-speaking the first time in 1893.
phenomenon has grown in France.
researchers. Even today there is little
FMS Foundation Newsletter WINTER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 1 7
The Oedipus-Complex Theory abused children and women. These therapists, hypnotherapists and body-
Freud abandoned the Seduction real victims, sought help from self- workers, but by some old-wave psy-
Theory because he said it did not work. trained therapists who would listen to choanalytically trained therapists and
[2] It was unable to carry out a single their stories. Later, women with no by a number of young psychoanalysts.
analysis to a real conclusion. (Letter to incest memories who were diagnosed It was also sometimes embraced by
Fliess, September 21st, 1897). On one by their therapists as suffering from reputable psychiatrists and even neu-
hand, Freud’s methods were ineffec- repressed incest memories joined the rologists. Anumber of psychiatric con-
tive; on the other hand, they might lead movement. Popular books were pub- ditions whose aetiology remained
him, because of repeated accusations lished such as The Courage to Healby obscure were now held by some clini-
against fathers, to a professional disas- Ellen Bass and Laura Davis. cians to be the result of sexual abuse
ter. A growing number of “incest sur- during childhood.” [7]
Later, he went so far as to say that vivors” therapy groups appeared, tap- How is it possible that patients
he had been at least forced to recognize ping into the arguments and techniques who previously had no recollection of
that these seduction scenes had never in these books to “recover” memories. childhood sexual abuse would be able
occurred and that they had been only Women by hundreds of thousands to “recover” memories, twenty or thir-
fantasies fabricated by his patients or recalled childhood sexual abuse mem- ty years later, after a few weeks or
maybe that he had imposed to them. [3] ories. Bass and Davis exploited months long therapy?
In the Oedipus-Complex Theory, women’s naivete, saying: “If you have
Voluntary submission, condition for
sexual assaults became children and been sexually abused, you are not
mental manipulation
hysterical women’s fantasies. He said alone…If you genuinely think you were
How is a person able to give in to
that the child takes both parents, and abused and your life shows the symp-
pressure, to suggestion, or to manipu-
above all one of them, as an object of toms, there’s a strong likelihood that
lation exerted by psychotherapists,
his desire. Usually, children react to an you were… If you think you have been
graduate psychiatrists, recognized by
impulse from their parents, whose ten- abused and if your life carries the
their peers, or by psychoanalysts, psy-
derness has a clearly inhibited sexual symptoms, then you have been
chologists or self declared therapists?
nature. [4]The Oedipal fantasy took the abused.” The list of symptoms is long Tounderstand that, we must look at the
place of seduction. and includes: fear of being alone in the
need for care and healing that moti-
Finally, according to Freud, it was dark, nightmares, poor image of one’s
vates a vulnerable patient. His wish to
of no importance whether the seduc- body, headaches, nervousness, low
be better makes him susceptible to the
tion really took place, or was only a self-esteem, suffering from eating dis-
psychotherapist’s demands. That is
fantasy. Sociologist Richard Webster orders, etc.
why the patient consulted initially. His
writes: “In the theory of the Oedipus- Expressing his doubts, Richard
therapist reminds him not to give up
Complex Freud had, in effect, invented Webster writes: “As yet no external
now that he is doing so well, whenev-
a perfect theoretical instrument for evidence has been produced which
er his patient’s courage weakens.
explaining away allegations of sexual convincingly demonstrates that any
Robert Vincent Joule and Jean-
abuse and undermining their credibili- therapeutically recovered ‘memory’of
Louis Beauvois demonstrated that
ty.” repeated and sustained sexual abuse
mental manipulation is the cornerstone
Following this thinking, American actually corresponds to real episodes
to an individual’s submission to
psychoanalysts throughout the 20th of sexual abuse.”[6] authority. [8] The patient in psychother-
century overwhelmingly considered
“Repressed memories” in the apy submits to the authority of the
real incest stories as Oedipal fantasies
United States in the 90’s therapist. First, he agrees entirely to be
and not as memories. This approach
The phenomenon of false memo- there as nobody can force people to
intensified the reactions and the
ries recovered in psychotherapy spread start psychotherapy. Then, the therapist
protestations from feminist currents,
in the United States: “Before very long tries hard to make the patient feel that
already very strong in the United
the belief that repressed memories of he discovers by himself the meaning of
States.
child sexual abuse were the cause of his ill-being and its cause in his dreams
The feminist rebellion in the United most serious neuroses, especially in or symptoms.
States and “false memory syn- women, began to be embraced by par- In Recovered Memory Therapies,
drome” ticular groups and subcultures of psy- the therapist suggests that the patient
The feminist movement drew part chotherapists and psychiatrists all must recover the sexual abuse memo-
of its energy from the psychoanalysts’ over the United States. It was ries to get better. Despite his doubts,
rejection, of confidences from truly embraced not only by many new-wave his fears, his misgivings, the patient
8
FMS Foundation Newsletter WINTER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 1
feels involved in a submission process patient in almost complete depen- magnitude of the human damage they
with a “physician of souls”, a special- dence. are producing. In France, the
ist of the human psyche, a kind of MIVILUDES report (Mission
The victims of RMT, Recovered
abstract entity playing a role in his Interministerielle de Vigilance and de
Memory Therapies
recovery and even in his happiness.He Lutte contre les Dérives Sectaires) was
The first victims are RMTpatients
puts his life in his hands, giving up his published in April 2008. It denounces
who recover repressed memories, then
critical judgement, and transferring his these fringe therapies and contributes
parents who when accused cannot in
own responsibility. to bringing light to this phenomenon.
anyway prove their innocence.
The therapist’s influence is always However some patients resume contact (December 2008)
present. Jacques Van Rillaer [9] states with their families, but refuse to talk References
that in psychoanalysis, even if the ana-
about what happened. Nothing is as
1.L’hérédité et l’étiologie des névroses. (1896).
lyst does not say much, he powerfully
before anymore. An American mother
Published again in Gesammelte Werke,
influences the patient. It is therefore
takes the image of a Chinese priceless Frankfurt am Main, S. Fischer, vol. 1, p. 418.
not surprising that people undergoing a vase, which even repaired will never 2. For more details, see Han Israëls : La théorie
Freudian analysis speak mostly about de la séduction: une idée qui n’a pas marché.
be the same. The greatest fault of
sex, those undergoing a Lacanian one dans C. Meyer et al. Le Livre noir de la psych-
recovered memory therapy is to not
analyse.Paris, Les Arènes, 2005, p. 39-42.
end up playing on words, and those a
distinguish between true and false tes- 3.Selbstdarstellung.(1925). Trad. Ma vie et la
Jungian one, see archetypes every-
timonies, thereby affecting everyone. psychanalyse. Gallimard, coll. Idées, 1970, p.
where. [10] 44.
What to do?
Joule and Beauvois believe that 4. Bruchstück einer Hysterie-Analyse. (1905).
In 1992, the False Memory Trad. Fragment d’une analyse d’hystérie
the psychoanalytic therapy gradually
Syndrome Foundation (FMSF) was (Dora). dans Cinq psychanalyses. Paris, PUF,
traps patients:
created in the United States.[13] Many 1954,p. 55.
“[...] Like it or not, psychoanalysis American researchers and University 5. R. Webster. (1995). Why Freud was wrong.
“Sin, science, and psychoanalysis”.NewYork:
has all the properties of an abstruse Professors, including Elizabeth Loftus,
Harper Collins & Basic Books.
trap. The patient has decided to be
[13]have worked hard on this subject. In 6. Ibidem, p. 484.
involved in a long process of expendi-
the United Kingdom, the British False 7. Ibidem, p. 482.
ture (in money, time, energy).
8. R.-V. Joule & J.-L. Beauvois. (1987). Petit
Memory Society (BFMS) [14] was
traité de manipulation à l’usage des gens hon-
founded in 1993. In France, the
1) Whether the patient is awareof it nêtes.Presses de l’Université de Grenoble.
or not, reaching the goal is not cer- “Alerted Faux Souvenirs Intuits 9. Psychologist, former Psychoanalyst,
tain, and especially as his psychoana- Association” (AFSI) was founded in Professor at the University of Louvain-la-
lyst himself may consider it as a fanta- 2005. Awebsite, Francefms was estab- Neuve (Belgique), author of numerous works of
which Psychologie de la vie quotidienne(Paris,
sy or an “extra”. lished in 2000. It changed its name in
Odile Jacob, 2003) et co-author of Livre noir
2) The situation is such that the Psyfmfrance, in 2008. [15] de la psychanalyse; (Paris, Les Arènes, 2005).
If today the phenomenon has 10. Observatoire Zététique. Bénéfices et préju-
patient may feel that each expense
greatly declined in the United States, it dices de la Psychanalyse. Conference. 22 mars
brings him closer to the goal.
2007. http://www.observatoire-
continues to develop in Europe and in
zetetique.org/page/doc.php?ecrit=9&ecritId=5
3) The process goes ahead unless France. Sigmund Freud is probably not
6&PHPSESSID=75891c5e048a0926b6261bef
the patient decides actively to stop it. directly responsible for False Memory 23825a7e
Therapies, but Freudism is, as these 11. Op. Cit. p. 42.
4) The patient did not fix a limit
therapies have borrowed their ideas 12.http://www.fmsfonline.org/
to his investment while starting.” 13. Professor of Psychology at the University
and methods from Psychoanalysis.
of Washington, then in Irvine. Her research is
Such analysis is also applicable to So it is in the Freudian bad habits
focused on the human memory, and more par-
Recovered Memory Therapy, aggre- that they find their origin and strength. ticularly on the false memory phenomenon.
gating the main characteristics such as The history of this false memories phe- Co-author with Katherine Ketcham, of The
free commitment, indefinite duration, nomenon in the 20th century may Myth of RepressedMemories.New York: St
cost, desire for healing, difficulty to spread widely in the 21st, if we fail to Martin Griffin, 1994.
14.http://www.bfms.org.uk/
say “stop, I stop.” [11] stop it by eroding its theoretical basis 15.http://www.psyfmfrance.fr
The patient is assigned an addi- which is now obsolete. c
tional task: recover memories, accuse We hope that French psychothera-
perpetrators, make them pay for their pists, who use recovered memory ther- “Memory is a complicated thing,
crimes. Failure to find healing despite apy techniques, become aware of the a relative to truth, but not its twin.”
the psychotherapist’spromises puts the nonsense of their practice and of the Barbara Kingsolver
9
FMS Foundation Newsletter WINTER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 1
Repeated Questioning of Children and the children who had not been False Beliefs May Have
There is the belief that repeated question- touched and told the truth. The authors Long Term Behavioral
ing of children leads to inaccuracy. One note that this finding is similar to other Consequences forEating
line of research has examined this ques- studies that have shown that children Geraerts, E., Bernstein, D.M.,
tion. Following are two of a number of
may fail to report a body touch in a Merckelbach, H., Linders, C.,
studies looking at this question.
social interaction or a medical proce- Raymackers, L., Loftus, E.F. (2008).
Is Consistency an dure. The authors do not know whether Lasting false beliefs and
Indication of Truth? the children did not encode the event or their behavioral consequences.
Quas, J.A., Davis, E.L., Goodman, G.S., were embarrassed by it. Psychological Science 19 (8), 749-753.
Myers, J.E.B. (2007). Repeated questions,
Quas et al. observe that their False beliefs and memories can
deception, and children’s true and false
results “call into question the common affect people’s attitudes in the short
reports of body touch. Child
assumption that consistency is a useful term. Geraerts and colleagues wanted
Maltreatment, 12 (1), 60-67.
indicator of veracity in children’s eye- to determine if false memories and
If a person is consistent in the witness accounts.” beliefs produce real changes in behav-
answers he or she provides, question- ior. To test this, the researchers falsely
***
ers tend to think that the person is suggested to 180 subjectsthat they had
When and How Are More
telling the truth. They tend to view gotten ill after eating egg salad when
Important than How Many Times
inconsistencies as an indication that they were children. Even though they
Children Are Interviewed
the person is not accurate. But is that had initially denied ever having such
Goodman, G.S. & Quas, J.A. (2008).
the case? Specifically, it is the case for an experience, a significant minority of
Repeated interviews and children’s mem-
children? Can children maintain a subjects came to believe it had actually
ory: It’s more than just how many.
coached lie about a fictitious event? Current Directions in Psychological happened to them. These subjects
There are few studies that have looked Science, 17(6),386-390. avoided eating egg salad both immedi-
at these questions. ately after the experiment and contin-
Goodman et al. examined the
The authors of this article exam- ued to avoid it four months later.
research literature in an effort to deter-
ined the ability of 7-year-old children Subjects who did not believe they
mine the effects of repeated interview-
to answer repeated questions about had gotten ill in childhood from eating
ing on children. They found that some
body touch—either honestly or dishon- egg salad also were deterred from eat-
studies of repeated questioning lead to
estly. Their purpose was to “determine ing egg salad in the short term.
increased accuracy. The authors
how well children maintain a knowing- However, after four months, non
observe that when and how children
ly false report about a brief personal believers ate more egg salad sandwich-
are interviewed is at least as important
experience.” es than the believers. The authors
for their accuracy as how many times
The authors worked with 35 chil- write:
they are interviewed.
dren, ages 4 to 7 years. One-third of the “This study shows that falsely sug-
For example: “When exposure to
children were touched innocuously gesting that a person experienced a
highly biased interviews or questions
during a play event. Two weeks later, childhood event can change that per-
occurs while memory for an event is
all the children returned. Some chil- son’s behavior considerably, in both
still strong, young children can show
dren who had not been touched were the short and longer term.”
substantial resistance to misleading
told to lie and to say that they had been
touched during repeated questioning. suggestions across multiple inter- c
These children were consistent in views.” Interviews that take place soon Understanding the Subjective
maintaining the lie but they did poorly after an alleged event “can serve as a Experience of Recovering Memories
on other repeated questions. The chil- buffer” reducing inaccuracies. With Geraerts, E., Lindsay, D.S., Merckelbach,
delay, however, even a single highly H., Jelicic, M., Raymaekers, L., Arnold,
dren who were not touched and who
biased interview can increase errors. M.M., Schooler, J.W. (2009).In Press.
told the truth were accurate when
Cognitive mechanisms underlying recov-
The authors conclude that chil-
answering repeated questions.
ered-memory experiences of childhood sex-
dren’s reports should not be summarily
The children who had been ual abuse. Psychological Science, 20(1).
discounted just because of repeated
touched and told the truth were the
Geraerts and colleagues observed
interviewing-even if some misleading
most inconsistent. The truth-tellers
that there seem to be two types of
questions have been asked.
who had been touched were signifi-
reports of recovered memories of child
cantly less accurate and less consistent
sexual abuse (CSA). One group
in their responses than were the liars c
acquires memories slowly in the con-
10 .FFMMSS
FMS Foundation Newsletter WINTER 2009 Vol. 18 No. 1